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A whopping 34-40 p.c of the meals produced in america goes uneaten annually. All that meals waste provides as much as an estimated 24 p.c of supplies in municipal strong waste landfills, which in flip produces an outsized 58 p.c of the methane these landfills emit into the atmosphere. It’s no surprise that companies and communities are more and more in search of methods to cut back landfill-bound meals—and to show it right into a supply of fresh vitality.One of the efficient methods to do each? Anaerobic digestion.What Is Anaerobic Digestion?Anaerobic digestion is a pure course of by which microorganisms break down natural matter in a closed house fully absent of air. The method ends in biogas—a renewable vitality supply—in addition to a mixture of digested supplies.Anaerobic digestion takes place in constructed methods referred to as anaerobic digesters, biodigesters, or just digesters. These are lagoons or tanks that soak up natural waste and produce biogas and digested supplies whereas mitigating foul smells and lowering pathogens and strong waste merchandise.Anaerobic digesters are capable of course of quite a lot of natural supplies, together with manure, meals scraps, industrial residuals, sewage sludge, fat, oils, and greases.Anaerobic digestion is without doubt one of the main strategies of lowering the environmental affect of wasted meals, in keeping with the EPA Wasted Meals Scale—a brand new framework for prioritizing methods to forestall and divert wasted meals from disposal.What Are the Merchandise of Anaerobic Digestion?The first merchandise of anaerobic digestion are biogas and digestate.BiogasBiogas, or renewable pure gasoline (RNG), is a renewable vitality supply comprised primarily of methane and carbon dioxide, in addition to small quantities of water vapor and different gases. As soon as the carbon dioxide and different gases are eliminated, solely the methane—the first element of pure gasoline—stays.Companies and communities can use biogas to energy:Combustion enginesHeat and electrical energy generatorsBoilers and furnacesAlternative-fuel vehiclesHomes and businessThe high quality of biogas varies. The less non-methane elements current, the upper the vitality worth of the biogas.Biogas that meets pipeline high quality requirements will be distributed immediately into properties and companies by means of the pure gasoline pipeline. Biogas will also be used to provide compressed pure gasoline (CNG) or liquefied pure gasoline (LNG).DigestateDigestate is what stays after the biogas is eliminated. It’s a moist combination, wealthy in vitamins and usually separated right into a strong and a liquid. It may be made into quite a lot of helpful merchandise, together with:FertilizersFlower potsSoil amendmentsLivestock beddingDigestate will be utilized on to the land to enhance soil well being and encourage plant development. By the restoration and reintroduction of nitrogen and phosphorus misplaced within the digestion course of, digestate will also be made into concentrated nutrient merchandise, akin to struvite and ammonium sulfate fertilizers.How Does Anaerobic Digestion Match into the Round Financial system?The function of anaerobic digestion within the round economic system is multifaceted, and the advantages are many. They embrace:Diversion of Organics from Landfills
Anaerobic digestion is an eco-friendly various to landfilling natural elements of municipal strong waste. Meals scraps, industrial meals processing waste, yard waste, and different natural supplies will be separated from the waste stream and diverted to an anaerobic digestion system. Retaining natural supplies out of landfills on this approach dramatically reduces dangerous methane emissions. It additionally dramatically boosts the provision of invaluable vitamins (within the type of digestate) that can be utilized to enhance soil well being.Sustainable Meals Manufacturing
A secure and sustainable meals provide is important to life. The environment friendly use of water and vitamins for meals cultivation, in flip, is important to the meals provide. Manure digesters on farms can convert the vitamins in uncooked manure right into a extra accessible kind for vegetation to absorb—rising crop yield. These digesters may generate warmth and electrical energy, lowering a farm’s dependence on the grid or different nonrenewable vitality sources.Diversification of Farm Income
Discovering new and diversified income sources is crucial to the long-term monetary stability of many farms. Manure digestion methods, once more, supply an array of alternatives, together with “tipping charges” for managing natural waste streams originating exterior the farm, revenue from the sale of nutrient-rich digestate, and even funds for promoting biogas-generated electrical energy to the native grid.Vitality Independence
As an alternative of—or along with—promoting vitality from biogas to the grid, farms can use it to energy their very own operations. This removes a farm’s reliance on exterior sources of vitality, particularly nonrenewable ones, which is nice for his or her backside traces and for the planet.How Has Rubicon Helped Firms Put Anaerobic Digestion to Work?Rubicon isn’t any stranger to anaerobic digestion and its worth. Living proof? The corporate’s partnership with Pennsylvania-based Reinford Farms.Beneath this system developed by Rubicon, a big nationwide selection retailer chain sends its expired milk to Reinford Farms. By anaerobic digestion, the milk is transformed into biogas and digestate. The biogas Rainford Farms produces generates sufficient electrical energy to energy their full 1,300 acres, with adequate spare vitality to energy 500 properties by means of the native grid.To study extra about how one can implement an anaerobic digestion program and begin changing waste into invaluable assets for your enterprise, please contact us immediately.—To remain forward of Rubicon’s bulletins of latest partnerships and collaborations around the globe, make sure to observe us on LinkedIn, Fb, and Twitter, or contact us immediately.
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